


365 Days To Fall in Love with Anakin Skywalker

by teenidle



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Actress! Padmé, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Anakin Skywalker Needs a Hug, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, F/M, Fighter! Anakin, M/M, Padmé Amidala Lives, Possessive Anakin Skywalker, Possessive Behavior, Protective Anakin Skywalker, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-24
Updated: 2020-08-24
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:08:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26043241
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teenidle/pseuds/teenidle
Summary: Padmé Amidala, a widely known actress, is living her best life: she has fame, looks, money, boys... At least, that is what the magazines and the TV shows say, don't they? But everything has something buried underneath the surface. Deep down inside, Padmé has been dealing with her depression for years, which is like a brick that has been pulling her down to the bottom of the sea... With an upcoming revelation, will she find a savior who will pull her out of her own mess?Anakin Skywalker... A barista at day time and a fighter at night time. Feeling dull with his life, Anakin always had a monotone life style. His days were all passing by in front of his own eyes. So when a silly bet is thrown at him, he willingly accepts the challenge of it. However, what will happen when he finally realizes that he had been looking for something, or rather someone, all this time?How did their paths cross? It all starts with an innocent bet in which Anakin has to make the famous and stubborn Padmé Amidala fall in love with him in only 365 days. But can a stupid bet actually open new and unexpected doors for them?
Relationships: Dormé/Obi-Wan Kenobi, Obi-Wan Kenobi/Anakin Skywalker, Padmé Amidala & Dormé & Sabé, Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker, Yoda & Other(s)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 6





	1. Auditions and Aprons

**Author's Note:**

> Hi!!! So this fanfic is basically a mix of 'Notting Hill' and '365 Days' (but the less sexual and more slow burn version of it). I hope you like the first chapter and before you start, I should remind you that I only took the characters from the Star Wars movies. I changed the relationships a bit and it is all a brand new story that only consists of Star Wars characters, cuz why not??? :) Enjoy!

Gray clouds were cloaking the once azure blue sky as rain started to pelt the sidewalks of New York City, casting an eerie aura upon the busy streets. Only a few streetlights were bright enough to dash through the thick gray mist of the upcoming storm. The dense crowd had quickly separated and found shelter in the gigantic hotel lobbies or the nearby restaurants, which had menus resembling a detailed novel.

Hardly a soul was willing to get exposed to the rainfall that had become stronger and was now thumping harder against one's skin, leaving a cold burning sensation. One would describe the weather as the kind that you would want to hug your coat a little tighter as another wave of wind licks your face and would fasten your footsteps so that you could reach your home as soon as possible.

Padmé Amidala sighed as she watched the storm approach upon the city, her breath leaving a trail of stream on the ice cold windows of her penthouse that was located at the center of New York. This type of weather always had a daunting influence on her, making her more depressed than she already was. It took every ounce of her willpower to stay away from her bed because she knew that as soon as she entered her bedroom, she would burry herself in her bed sheets and would not come out for weeks. Even the act of waking up made her tired and sucked the life out of her. Having lots of acquaintances, fans, and friends, no one in her carrier circle would ever consider her an antisocial person.

Oh, _little_ did they know how much she, her manager Dormé, and her psychologist Mr. Yoda were struggling to silence the demons in her mind. They were the ones pushing her to her limits. 

Every single detail in her daily life seemed distressing to her, causing all the motivation she and Mr. Yoda had managed to pull out from the back of her head diminish. Now, simply in this weather, there was no encouragement for her to cling to.

It was all a mess in her mind and this weather was not helping her at all. 

A strong wind howled outside her penthouse, making Padmé grimace and shiver as she wrapped her arms around herself as if trying to shield herself from the coolness. The complex was silent like death, she thought while her eyes wandered around, searching for anything that would make her come back to life... _her medications_. 

She had already took a couple of them, but the growing panic and darkness that were overtaking her body made her consider taking some more. Besides, the worst side effect was the dizziness it gave to Padmé, 'the earthquakes' she usually defined them to Yoda. That was her least concern now. She was waiting for a significant email, which would decide her carrier path. It was a widespread fact that she had become a first rate actress from an early age. She had starred in movies directed by well known directors, such as Mace Windu and Kit Fisto, while also modeling for many known brands.

Her path was bright, she knew, but this audition still made her nervous like all her other auditions did. 

A blurry vision of her first audition flashed in front of her eyes, smiling as she saw a young Padmé sitting nervously in front of the computer while her mom paced around the room and her dad kept patting Padmé's shoulder to comfort her. Her sister, Sola, was smiling at the computer screen like she was very certain that Padmé had got the role. And Sola was right, Padmé had gotten her first role in the movie 'Léon: The Professional', which was still considered as a success in the movie industry. She recalled the way her dad, Ruwee Naberrie, picked her up and spun her around, making her scream out in excitement and enthusiasm. The most meaningful part of the memory was when Sola had held her face, tears of joy streaming down from her face, and had whispered "I'm so proud of you!". 

The hot tingling of joy vibrated from her chest by the sight of the memory. She was missing those days, when everything seemed easier and anything had a solution. Now, her child mind was gone, painted black by the reality of the world.

Of course, growing as a child actress had been a real struggle and when Naberrie family realized Padmé needed something, _someone_ , to keep both her actress and Padmé sides balanced, they sought out for a psychologist and fortunately had found the best: Mr. Yoda, a very old man who looked like he had just popped out of those owl commercials made for kids in which there would be a Gandalf-like grandpa figure. Yoda was that grandpa figure. He was a really short man, even shorter than Padmé. However, even though he didn't have the height, he had the brains. His knowledge made everyone respect him or notice him whenever he entered a certain environment.

She was getting dragged deep in her thoughts when the door in the other room opened and a feminine voice filled the house, speaking heatedly with the other person on the phone. Dormé was here. Padmé scrambled to the small orange bottle of medication and quickly opened the white lid, taking two out and swallowing them with the water on the coffee table across her. Just as she set the glass down on the table, Dormé entered the room: phone squeezed between her ear and shoulder, one hand full of papers and the other carrying her leather bag, which probably had her MacBook, Padmé guessed.

She was so wound up with the conversation that at first she didn't realize Padmé sitting on the white 'L' couch. At this moment Padmé quickly put the bottle back to its original place. She didn't want Dormé to realize that this was maybe the third time she had taken the pills. Dormé would literally drag her to the hospital to get her checked by a doctor since she worried too much on her health issues and medications. Right now, the last thing she needed was an alarmed Dormé pacing up and down at her living room. She just wanted to get the contract and return back to her day. 

"Dumbass!" Dormé huffed as she ended the call, throwing her phone on the coffee table and plopping herself down next to Padmé, who was now much more relaxed from the medications she had taken moments ago. "Men are so stupid! I don't understand how more men are employed compared to women. Like, they don't even understand one thing I say. I hate, no _detest_ , them." Dormé said angrily, trying to calm herself down. 

The actress barked out a laugh at the sight of her manager boiling with pure anger. "Consider the fact the people who are employing men are _also_ men. Therefore, I hate to break it to you but it is an infinite loop." She shrugged. "Also, you should learn to tolerate males and get accustomed to them. It's not like you can ignore them forever, D." 

Dormé sent a death glare at her way. "Me and getting accustomed to those brainless creatures you call 'male'... Did you really, for a second, thank that I would get used to their stupidity? Which universe are you in, Pad?" she said as she crossed her arms in front of her chest before leaning her back to the couch, and with that Padmé knew that her manager was getting defensive. "They should get used to working with me. Why would I even _bother_ to change myself or my routine for them? They are not worth it." 

"I never said that they are worth it. But maybe you should just accept them as stupid and continue your life like that. Don't overthink, just let it flow. Trust me, it would be much easier for you." Padmé stated while observing the other woman's state: she was breathing harder and heavier now, her face flushed with anger, and she had a deep frown stuck to it. It was both funny and heartbreaking to see her like that. 

Dormé didn't have a conventional childhood: her father leaving her and her mother at a very young age, her mother becoming a drug addict and thereby loosing the custody of Dormé. Remembering the agonizing look on Dormé's face when she had first told Padmé about her childhood, Padmé shivered as if the wind had hit her and sunk deeper into the couch.

It was hard not having to grow up with a father, or even a proper male figure. However, it was a valid explanation to the hatred she felt towards every single male. Deep down Padmé knew that Dormé wanted someone to replace the loss of her father, but she also knew that Dormé would never accept it in a life time. She had that much of a pride. There had been a long period of time in which Padmé had tried to pair her up with the sweetest males and females she knew from her circle. None of it worked and even ended with many disasters. 

At least they had figured out her sexuality, which was straight, much to Dormé's disappointment. She had always said that liking girls would be much appropriate for her, much easier for her to adapt to. But, the reality was hard and cold. The fact that she found men stupid and reckless, didn't mean that she _did not_ find them attractive. Even though she detested them with every fiber in her body, she admitted _some_ of those brainless creatures were hot. That's it. Only some. Not the majority, the minority. 

Dormé sighed as she closed her eyes and leaned her head back. "I'm calm, I'm _totally_ calm!" This was her method for calming down after a male-caused anger session. "Anyways, did the email come? I wasn't late was I?" And now panic took control of her body.

 _Dormé and her constant mood swings_ , Padmé thought as she chuckled. "No, no. It didn't come. Don't worry."

"Oh," she scanned at Padmé with suspicious eyes. "And you are not nervous at all?" When the realization hit her, Dormé's eyes grew wide. "Did you over take your pills _again_?" She quickly scrambled up to her feet, glaring down at Padmé, whose eye lids were slowly dropping down. "We have talked about this, Padmé! How can you be so reckless when it comes to your health? That's it we are going to the-" 

Padmé held her hand up, grimacing as she did. "For God's sake, Dormé. I didn't _over take_ my medications. I'm just tired, that's all. And for the record, before you came in, I was literally about to chew down my nails. I was that nervous. But now... I just realize that even if I do not get this role, I would get another one. Life has multiple doors." 

The manager sat down facing Padmé and held her shoulders, turning her to face her manager. "Look me in the eyes and tell me that you are not lying and you did not take an extra dose of your medications." She squinted her eyes at Padmé, making the actress laugh and do the same thing. It was as if they were in a cowboy movie, getting ready to duel. 

"I am not lying. I didn't take an extra dose of the medication. I am just overly worked up." she said without missing a beat. 

Her manager kept staring at her until she was for sure that Padmé hadn't taken another dose. _That's one of the benefits of being an actress_ , Padmé thought smugly. Your features wouldn't give you away since you are just so used to changing your facial traits constantly and making them credible for the audience. 

"So when do you think the email will come? I hate waiting around like this, D. I have stuff to do, you know?" Padmé grunted. It was the truth, she hated waiting and wanted everything to happen in an eye blink."

D looked at the watch on her wrist. "I'm pretty sure they will send you the email at eleven A.M., which is only a couple of minutes away. Until then we can talk about that hot piece you took home last night." She scanned the house as Padmé groaned. She hated talking about her flings as much as Dormé hated males. "I don't see him anywhere. Is he an early bird?" 

"No, D, he didn't come up to my apartment. You know it was just for the photos." She looked down at her hands finding with each other. "And even if it was a real date, I wouldn't have brought him to my home. He is just too...arrogant." 

"I mean isn't that normal for a supermodel like him? He is just everywhere." Dormé picked up the magazine that was laying abandoned on the coffee table and searched for the guy. A knowing smirk forming on her face let Padmé know that she was right. She turned the magazine to him, revealing a topless photo of the guy with a Rolex on his wrist. It was a Rolex ad. "Look, told you!" 

Padmé only answered her by rolling her eyes. She didn't like the guy, whether his face was plastered everywhere or not. End of the question. He may be was suitable for the actress Padmé, but everything in the guy was not okay for the _real_ Padmé Amidala. He was literally the definition of douchebag in her eyes.

Besides, she didn't want someone famous, preferring someone that would surprise her every single time. In the industry that she was working at, everyone around the world knew everything about them: their first high school crushes, their favorite dishes, what they would do in their free time, and the list just went on. That was something against Padmé's liking: getting all the details from interviews rather than knowing that person over a dinner, maybe. She wanted privacy, mystery. It was never comfortable living your life in front of millions of people. Since she grew up like that, she wanted someone who hasn't been exploited by any type of social media. 

"You are gazing away. Did you listen anything I said?" D's voice brought her back. "Are you sure you are totally okay? We can always drop by Yoda's office." She was worried. 

"Hey, it's okay, D. You are making me more nervous when you worry a lot. I just have a lot of stuff to do today. I was sorting them out." Padmé flashed her a smile. 

Dormé dropped her head and let out a deep breath. "Sorry. I'm just worried about you. You have lots of stuff on your shoulders right now. I do not want you to snap because of them." She reached for the actress's hand and gave it a light squeeze. "And I am not saying these as your manager, but as your friend who is worried sick about you. Just promise me you will swing by Yoda's office today." 

Padmé squeezed her hand back. "Okay, I promise, D. He will also tell you that you have nothing to worry about." Just as she finished the sentence a notification beeped from Padmé's IPad that was laying on the coffee table, making both woman freeze and look at each other with wide eyes. 

Dormé jumped up from the couch, shaking her hands to calm herself. "Okay, okay. Let's calm down. It's just an audition which you fricking nailed! It would be stupid of them to not pick you as the role." As she rambled to herself Padmé took a deep breath and stood up to take her iPad. It wouldn't be the end of the world if she didn't get picked. But it would kind of be the end of her day because she knew that she would not get out of her bedroom.

For a second, she actually wanted to _not_ get picked. Then she wouldn't have to go out to finish her tasks and she would have a valid reason to not to. 

The email popped open when she clicked the email app. Taking a deep breath in, she clicked to the notification, revealing the rest of the email. She quickly skipped the parts of 'Hey, Padmé' and 'It was an honor to have you at the auditions.' And finally the part she had craved to read for a couple of hours now...

"D." she called out to her manager, who was unaware that Padmé had already opened and was reading the email. D's eyes grew big as she stared at Padmé with a hand on her mouth, indicating how tense she was. "I-"

"You what? Tell me already, Pad! I hate it when you make me wait like this!" she exclaimed as her hands flew up in the air. 

Padmé rolled her eyes. "If you let me finish my sentence... _I got the role."_

A few seconds passed as Dormé tried to process what had happened, and when her token finally dropped she screamed in joy and started jumping like a five year old who got her favorite type of ice cream after waiting for the whole day.

Padmé just smiled at her friend, watching her go crazy in her living room, dancing and jumping around like a maniac. It was nice seeing people she loved this happy. _She loved making them happy and proud._ As she continued staring at the other girl, she wanted to be just as excited and happy as her, but she couldn't bring herself to. There was a heavy rock on her chest, making it _very_ hard to breathe. The room was spinning in front of her eyes. She needed to go to the bathroom before D realized what was happening. 

"I'm going to the bathroom." she called out to her. However, the other girl was already busy making some calls to the necessary people, revealing the happy news. 

_Thank God!_

Quickly stepping into the bathroom, Padmé locked the door behind her before leaning her head and back to it. She needed something to support her while the ground beneath her shook violently. _The earthquakes..._

A sob escaped her tightly sealed lips as she sunk down to the floor. The shaking was so violent, so violent that she needed to hold on to something. The earth was slipping away under her.

Was _she going to fall? Fall to where?_

"Stop, stop, stop." she kept repeating as she hit her head harder with each word escaping her lips. "Please, stop!" Tears were slipping down from her cheekbones to her mouth, the salty taste making her want to puke her stomach out. 

_If she fell, was anyone going to pick her up?_

"No... I have no one. No one. No one." she sobbed to herself. "Alone. Always alone." At the moment it was really hard for her to form a proper sentence rather than just repeating the words. It was a high probability that she looked very _pathetic_ and _sick_ from outside as she kept trembling and restating everything she was saying. "I don't want to be alone. No alone, no alone, please!" she shrieked. 

It was a miracle that Dormé hadn't followed her to the bathroom to check up on her. 

Padmé started to sway side to side, her head in her hands as she kept repeating the word 'alone'. It was devastating for her to be alone. Even though it was always reflected to the media that she had every boy in the palm of her hands, in reality she was alone. As lonely as a wild flower in the desert. She kept seeking for water, _help_ , but she felt like there was no one around. Of course, she had Dormé, her family, her friends, and Yoda by her side. But the emptiness inside her was different.

 _She needed that puzzle piece to complete the puzzle that she referred to as her life._

However, until she find it, she was incomplete. The thought made her tremble with fear. She had quite a few fears. But the thought of dying as incomplete was her worst dread. The thought haunted her day and night.

_She needed a savior._

_But she had no one._

"Go demons! Please go... go... go!" 

"Padmé is everything okay in there, honey?" 

Dormé. In her living room. 

Padmé slowly stood up and cleared her throat before answering her, "Yes, it's good. It's a number two, though." She heard Dormé laugh. _Okay good, she didn't suspect anything. Now, she just had to clean herself up and head outside to continue her daily life like she wasn't in the bathroom having a mental breakdown._

* * *

"Anakin Skywalker, do you have any idea how late you are?" Obi Wan looked at the boy entering his cafe with eyebrows raised. If he hadn't known Anakin for years, he would have _definitely_ fire him a couple of times by now.

 _That was for sure_ , Anakin thought as he looked at the older man, who was now holding out his apron with the name tag that said 'Anakin'. It was a shitty job, he had to admit, serving _all_ types of people all day long from the wizard kid to the annoying 'Karen's. He fucking hated it. But it was his only option, aside from being a fighter, to maintain his average lifestyle in New York. The city was _hella_ expensive. 

"Sorry, Kenobi, I was practicing for tonight's fight. You know the now with-" Obi Wan cut him off, holding out his hand as if saying _'Okay, I heard enough for today.'_ Obi-Wan absolutely _hated_ the fact that he was working at the cafe in the day time and was a fighter at the night time. He thought it was a very dangerous 'job' to gain money. But he couldn't deny that it brought Anakin enough money to pay his rents. 

Anakin grabbed his apron, putting it on as he passed to the other side of the counter. 

Compared to the other people living in New York, he had a quite ordinary and private life. With his small circle of friends and acquaintances, he was okay with his life. Even though the monotony of it sometimes bored him, he didn't expect more since he came from a really poor family, _or only mother to be frank_. 

His childhood wasn't exactly like the ones displayed in the movies: nice apartments, nice clothes, nice family. No, in fact it had been only his mother, Shmi, and him for a very very long time. He didn't remember his father since he had left when Anakin was still too young. But at least he had a mother who was caring like a mother and strong like a father. She had been forced to play both the mother and father in the family, nevertheless, although is sounded tough and had been very tough, she had done a great job. It had been easy replacing his father with her mother, especially when he had a father figure: Obi Wan. 

They had found each other when Shmi had started working for Obi Wan in the cafe. As Shmi and Obi Wan grew closer and started forming a somewhat sibling bond, Shmi had started brining Anakin to her work. That's when the two, Anakin and Obi Wan, formed a strong bond. Anakin looked up to Obi Wan: his intelligence, his patience, and his friendly nature. Everything about Kenobi was inspirational for Anakin. 

After a long time Shmi had to retire due to her old age. And when Anakin found an opportunity to work with Obi Wan, he had decided to jump in. Even though he really hated having to always deal with people in a friendly manner, his enjoyment and desire to work with Obi Wan always outweighed the hate. It was not only about the coffee. I was also the mentorship, the life lessons Kenobi taught him. If it wasn't for him, he would been the same reckless and careless Anakin he had been a couple of years ago. 

Just like he had expected, the day was just like the rest of his days. The cafe was crowded with people who were trying to escape the cold weather and as a split second decision they had barged into the cafe he was working at. Now, it was a relief to see the line had shortened significantly compared to the cluster of people at morning and at noon.

As the clock hit four P.M., his excitement grew bigger and bigger, slowly rising from his throat. He had been getting ready for this fight for a long time now. It was against one of the most infamous fighters in the industry, Dooku, a man who had probably just passed his forties. Even though he looked old, he had the strength of a tiger and cunningness of a fox. That was what he was told, never actually meeting the guy before. The rumor had it that he had never lost a single match in his entire fighting carrier. Just thinking about it made Anakin nervously bounce his leg and run his hand along his long dusty blond hair. 

'It is going to be quite the show.' he thought as he looked around the shop.

At the exact moment, he caught the eyes of a bunch of young women staring at him and giggling between each other. With his muscled body and hard facial traits, he was an eye candy for women, he was aware. It both bothered him and flattered him from time to time. A bunch of girls staring at him and giving him the look that indicated how much they would want to get in between his bed sheets, of course, stroked his ego. However, sometimes it was just so creepy that he had to go to the backside of the cafe and wait until the girls were gone. 

He had been with many girls since they all immediately fell into the palm of his hand. It wasn't such a hardship to attract them easily. However, he had never felt the same connection they did to him. _All the girls were same_ , he thought. All they wanted was sex or a fake ass relationship that would only last for a couple of weeks. Shmi had always told him that a girl's worth laid at the difficulty of winning her over. To be more open, if a girl was hard to get, she would be the one. Since during all the time in which he would be trying to win her over, they would actually get to know each other. And once she was in love with him just as much as he was with her, she would be willing to surrender herself to him. The deed would be done. 

"You are spacing out again." he heard Obi Wan say behind him. 

Anakin sighed and turned to face him. "I am just thinking about the fight, Kenobi." he lied. It wasn't the right time to talk about an important matter like this in the cafe with a lot of strangers surrounding them. 

Kenobi groaned and started pinching his nose bridge. "Just... don't come to my house with your nose up your eyes. Okay?" 

This drew a laugh out of both Anakin and Obi Wan. There were a couple times in which Anakin had to ask Obi Wan's help to patch up his fight wounds. Since his mother didn't know about it, Obi Wan was the only person he could show up and ask help for. "I will try, Obi Wan, I will try." 

Just as he concluded his sentence, he noticed the frown on Obi Wan's face as he looked behind Anakin to the main road just outside the cafe. The young man turned to the door, trying to follow Kenobi's gaze, a concerned look on his face. And just right then, he spotted the black Lamborghini that stopped in front of the cafe and the woman getting out of it. "Woah..." was the only thing that got out of Skywalker's mouth as he gazed at her. 

She turned to close the car door before locking it and stepping into the cafe. Anakin just kept staring at her. Something about her was extremely tempting and was _familiar_... but what? Her soft looking wavy brown hair, that made a desire to touch it _immediately_ surge in Anakin, bounced on her back as she walked towards the counter. The time had literally stopped for him right then and there, his gaze stuck on the young woman who seemed to not be aware of his burning gaze on her. Her round black sun glasses hid her eyes away from him. 

_Oh, how much he desired to take a look at them._

_What the fuck, Anakin? She is a fucking stranger!_

Yes, she was a stranger who was simultaneously so familiar to him. 

He scanned her toned - _wow very toned_ \- slander figure before his eyes landed onto her face. She had very high cheek bones, giving her a goddess like majestic look. Her lips, that were big but not botox big, shone with her really bright pink lip gloss. She was neither tanned nor pale. Her skin color indicated that she was quite the traveller. She didn't live in a hot place where she would actually get tanned, but also she didn't stay too long at cold cities like New York since she wasn't very pale. 

_It matched her just perfectly._ he thought. 

A dark brown trench coat, which tightly hugged her body revealing all her curves under his gaze, hung off from her shoulders. Even under her coat he could notice how fit she was.

 _The thought made him dizzy_. 

She slowly approached to the counter and lowered her sunglasses on her nose, looking deep into his eyes. 

_Finally._ he thought as stared at back at her honey brown eyes. He hadn't seen any eyes like hers before, enlacing his with a calm but sexy gaze. It was as if she was drowning him in her honey eyes. There were hardly any emotions displayed in them, they just looked blank, which deepened his surge to get under her skin by just taking off that stoic mask of hers. 

Her brows creased as she looked back at him, examining him. "Hello?? Are you there?" her orotund voice reached to his ears, and _God,_ she was a literal angel from her looks to the melody of her voice. "Do I have something on my face?"

Anakin slowly shook his head, still gazing at her with his lips cracked open. "Hello." Kenobi cleared his throat as he stepped in front of Anakin, trying to fix the awkward interaction between the two and serve the woman since Skywalker was too busy staring at her. "How can we help you today, Ms. Amidala? I'm so sorry for the way Anakin, I mean my co-worker, welcomed you. My co-worker is a bit... sleepy today, as you can probably tell from the way he gazes off."

Right then, the young barista shook his head to get out of his dazed state and focus on the woman in front of him, who was now smiling at Kenobi. She had a tight but friendly smile on her lips, the one you would do out of respect. "Oh, it's fine, I can tell how _tired_ he is." she chuckled and looked away from Kenobi to Anakin, her smile never faltering. "And please call me Padmé." 

_Padmé Amidala... So familiar but who?_

"I'm a really big fan of your movie Léon: The Professional, by the way. It is such a masterpiece, I should add..." Kenobi's voice trailed away as Anakin again found himself in deep thoughts. 

_So she is an actress, a popular one in fact. But why haven't I heard of her before?_

"I'm very glad..." she looked at Obi Wan's name tag. "... Obi Wan. Did I pronounced that right?" 

Obi Wan laughed and nodded his head, "Yes yes, you are among a minority who can pronounce it right at the first try. So what can I get you?" 

_"...Another exciting news for today is it has been officially confirmed that Padmé Amidala will be starring at Darren Aronofsky's new film: The Black Swan. The movie will hit the-"_ Anakin turned his head to look at where the sound was coming from. A photograph of her slim face popped out at the television on the right side corner of the cafe. 

_Oh, now he knew her familiarity._ She played a Queen in the recent Star Wars movie. Since Anakin's teenage neighbor, Ahsoka, was literally in love with the series, he had watched that film a few times now. 

_Her beauty was not photoshop,_ he thought. _It was in real life._

It was the truth: she was still very pretty without all the make up done in the movie sets. 

When Padmé realized what he was looking at she laughed, "Yeah, that's me. Nice to meet you, _Anakin_." The way she pronounced his name made his legs go weak under him. 

He opened his mouth, then closed, and opened again. It was a high probability that he looked like a freaking fish that had accidentally hit the shore. "Nice to meet you too, Padmé. Sorry for the whole spacing out thing." he managed to choke out as he tried to give her an apologetic smile. 

"It's totally fine." she waved him off before turning back to Kenobi. "I would like to have an iced Americano. But I want it to be pretty awakening, if it is possible, please?" 

"Of course, an iced Americano coming up for... Padmé." Obi Wan wrote her name down on the plastic cup in his hand. "It'll be ready in five minutes. You can sit at the tables over there while waiting." He pointed towards the crowded seating area at the right side. 

Padmé was taking out her purse as she replied, "I guess I'm just going to stand. It would be a chaos if anyone noticed who I am. So that's a hard pass." Fishing out her credit card from her Louis Vuitton purse, she handed it over to Obi Wan. There was a pregnant pause between all three of them while Padmé pushed her sunglasses back in front of her eyes.

She seemed friendly, but silent at the same time. It was like she had a lot of things swimming up in her mind. 

"It'll be 2.99 dollars." Obi Wan notified her, which she replied with only a nod before entering the passcode to the device. "Thank you for visiting. We really hope you like it." The calmness and politeness of Obi Wan was just very surprising for Anakin. In front of them was a world wide known actress, but still he managed to stay professional, unlike Anakin who was still wandering his eyes over her delicate form. 

"Thank you, again!" she said smiling before moving to the left side of the cafe to wait for her order. 

"Anakin, are you out of your mind? That's how you treat a customer... _a widely know_ customer? Now she will never come to us thinking our service sucks!" Kenobi said heatedly as he begun making the iced Americano. 

It was the truth and Anakin knew this. That was not the right way to treat a customer. However, something in her just made him snap, made him freeze. The realization hit him like a ton of bricks. The dumbstruck look on his face turned into an angry one. He was angry at himself for looking so stupid in front of her, he was angry at her for making him stupid with her scent, voice, look, and literally everything else that belonged to her. It was not likely for him to be _this_ dumb struck at _just_ the sight of a woman. 

His gaze returned to her again as he poured some ice to the cup before handing it to Obi Wan so that he can pour the coffee. "I didn't like her." got out from his mouth before he managed to stop it. "Something in her is... _intoxicating._ " 

Obi Wan poured the Americano and grabbed a random lid, and while placing it onto the cup he said, "It looked the opposite to me. You were too intoxicated from liking her too much. You should have seen the look on your face. I was struggling so hard to not laugh at it. But I think I can now." And with that he gave a throaty laugh, handing the cup to Anakin. "I want to see the same face again. Why don't _you_ hand her the drink?" 

That made Anakin frown angrily at the older man. He would never be in frenzy for a girl... especially the girl he had just met... if it was considered as a proper meeting. Now he was determined to show the older man that he had been wrong about his intention with the girl. 

Grabbing the drink, he turned to her and put the drink harshly on the counter, making her look up from her phone. "Your drink, _Padmé_." He had said her name as if it was a poison to his lips. "And for the record, pulling up with a Lamborghini in front of the cafe didn't make us, _me_ , think highly of you. It was a bit, a lot, snobby, if I am frank." 

_What the fuck was he saying? That was not what he was thinking... But they just flowed out of his mouth out of anger before it was too late._

"Uh, excuse me, that was not _my_ intention. And why would I care about what you, what _anybody_ thinks, of me? What the fuck is your problem, dude?" she said angrily before harshly grabbing her coffee and heading out to her car. Without taking another look at the cafe, _at him_ , she just got into her car and drove off, never to be seen again. 

Really, _what was his problem?_

She had been nothing but friendly to them, and it was not very common among famous people like her to be this kind to a barista who couldn't even take her order since he was too busy checking her out.

_His problem wasn't with her, but rather it was the way she made his knees buckle under him every time she met his gaze._

"Now it is certain that she will not come back here, ever again." Kenobi declared as he watched the young woman leave. "Great job." he sighed and went back inside the small kitchen. 

Anakin just stared at the emptiness where her car had been parked a couple of seconds ago. "Yeah, Anakin, great job. Now you will never see her face again." he muttered to himself.


	2. Anger

"... and I'm telling you Sabé, he was such a dickhead to me, even though I hardly ever talked to him!" Padmé was furious as she kept driving her car while talking to her best friend, Sabé, telling her about the dumbass who had treated her like a spoiled brat. _How dare he?_ "I swear to God, I just wanted to punch that-that handsome face of his right then and there!" Sabé's calm breathings broke out into a laughter, ringing throughout her car from the BlueTooth. "Ugh, why does every handsome male I meet has to be a complete asshole to me?!" 

That made Sabé laugh harder into the the phone, making Padmé smile a little. Sabé and Padmé had been best friends for... probably for ever. They did everything together: went to parties together, went to skydiving together, went to dates together, went to Padmé's galas together... If one didn't know them personally, he or she would think that they were dating, or even married. But it didn't bother them. It was far too amusing to see magazines make articles like 'Padmé Amidala seen with her new girlfriend in Nobu yesterday night.' and blah blah blah. The media wouldn't stop ' _shipping_ ' her with literally whoever was standing next to her that day. 

"This story turned out far more entertaining than I thought it would. Wait wait... let me just laugh it off for a sec." And another set of laughter from Sabé. "Okay, now I'm done. Girl, why are you _this_ bothered by some random ass dude calling you a brat? I mean I don't think I should remind you about what some people are saying behind your back. They are all dumb and fucking jealous of your accomplishments, that's all. But this dude... I really don't think he is worth overthinking about, darling." 

Sabé was completely right. _Why was she getting frustrated this much about a random stranger? She should have forgotten about him once she had stepped out of the cafe._

She took a sip from her iced Americano that had turned very watery now and continued, "To be frank, Sab, I don't know what has gotten into me. There is something about him that...that makes me want to care about what he thinks or even overthink about what he says." Her grip on the steering wheel tightened upon the revelation coming out of her mouth. "You should have seen the way he looked at me. It was different fr-"

Sabé sharply cut her off. "You literally said the exact same thing the first time you encountered with that bastard Palo. And look, he just happened to be a son of a bitch in disguise. The point I'm trying to get at is that it is pretty obvious that you felt some kind of a spark between you two back there. I mean I understood it even from the way you whine about him. But you should really start looking out for yourself. I really don't want to see you cry your eye balls out for another individual with a penis again and I am very serious Padmé." Her voice had become much more serious than the laughter she had a couple of minutes ago. 

When it came to Padmé, Sabé had been very protective since she had witnessed nearly all of her friend's mental breakdowns and even stood by her during some of her therapy sessions when Padmé felt too scared to go alone and face it by herself. It was undeniable that Sab had sacrificed so much of her time for Padmé and her healing duration. However, it was hard seeing Padmé so lifeless, once Sab had revealed to her while they were lying down on her bed after tranquilizer was injected to Padmé. Sometimes, the young actress couldn't help but feel so guilty for the pain she had caused to stir in Sab. It was definitely not her fault that Padmé was like this, _this broken_. And at those times, Padmé kept asking herself _'What the hell is wrong with me? Am I just making up all this pain by myself?'_

"Hey, I never used the word 'in love', okay? And I know as a matter of fact that Palo was a disaster. But this guy... I mean I will never see him again so it is not that much of a problem that I got highly affected by him." Padmé was certainly not in love, _God no_. The way she felt about the dude, _Anakin_ , was not even close to love, but rather closer to hate. She was just affected by his gaze and the way he talked to her. She wasn't the one to fall in love with every single guy who she met eyes with. Love had become a type of a weakness for her. 

"If that's what you say, sis. Anyways, enough with this Anthony bullshit." Sabé said, but before she could continue, Padmé had to interfere and correct his name with an eye roll. "Okay, whatever. Weird ass name. We should totally have a celebration dedicated to your new starring role in the freaking Black Swan! So I was thinking about going to Marcus' club tonight-" 

"God, please no! I really don't want to see you making out with Marcus all night while his random friends try to hit up on me, for fuck's sake!" Padmé huffed. That was exactly what happened every time they went there. Marcus and Sabé would disappear into the crowd, leaving Padmé and some of Marcus' friends at the VIP section. They always hit on her and she always turned them down with a single look that made them shut up. She wasn't there to flirt with them, she was there to look after her best friend. "And, for the record, I really don't think a celebration is necessary, Sabé. Tomorrow is the first day in set so I don't think Darren would want to see me hangover from the beginning. First impressions are important!" 

Other than that, she was very tired after today's incidents but she didn't want to tell that to Sabé now. She was enjoying her time, so why worry her by saying that she was very tired? But if she was honest, even her weight was too much for her to carry and now her best friend was talking about partying. _No, thanks_.

"Padmé Amidala, you _will_ be coming to the celebration. End of the discussion." Padmé couldn't find the energy in herself to oppose right then while also not wanting to ruin her friend's excitement.

"Fine, but no alcohol please. I'm very serious about this." Amidala declared with an orotund voice, the one she used when she was going to draw a red line in a serious discussion like this one. 

"Okay, I surrender. No alcohol, striking off from the list." Padmé heard a scribbling sound from the other side. Sabé really made a list of ideas to do for celebration. Was Padmé even surprised? No. Sab was the party animal one in their friendship after all. "And do you have any different suggestions other than going to a club or a bar?" the other woman sighed over the phone, her voice just bouncing inside her car. "Oh wait! I have a suggestion! We can go to a ring fight tonight. Alejandro was telling me-" 

"Which one was Alejandro? The blond one or the brunet with a neck tattoo one?" the actress cut off as she took a right turn to the street that her apartment was on. Sab was quite a hot piece, thereby she had a lot of admirers and flirts. Nevertheless, the conversation or the flirt (whatever she called it) was always ended by her. If she dropped a boy, she moved on to another one. Sab just saw them as _toys_ which would get too nosy if you get attached to them like a glue. The whole concept of dating and flirting was a game to Sab and Padmé couldn't blame her. Her best friend was a very pretty girl, after all. 

"Even though you can't see over the phone, I'm rolling my eyes at you, you perv! Of course it is the blond one! Don't lose track, P, you gotta stay focused." That made Padmé huff with a smile. "Okay okay, don't get so worked up on me. As I was saying, Alejandro was telling me about a ring fight that is going to take place tonight. He also mentioned that the people fighting were both very very good at it. Therefore, I think it might be fun for us to go there and watch it. And it will be a new thing for us!" 

"I don't know, Sab. What if someone finds out who I am? I'm totally not in the mood for facing tens of my fans there." Padmé hesitated. Besides, she wasn't as excited as Sabé was at the moment about her new movie. Another movie, another chaos. She'd rather stay at home and watch some of her old movies than play in a new one. Neither she had the energy nor the motivation. 

_A ring fight? How dumb was that? Who would pay hundreds of dollars just to watch two steroid-pumped guys fight while forty-something year old sweaty dudes surround and try to flirt with you?_

_Definitely not Padmé Amidala._

"Please please please please! It will be fun and no one will know who you are. I give you my word. I'm going to dress you up so good that you will be anyone other than the great Padmé Amidala." Sab begged. "Just say yes, please. Look, it will freshen your mind, maybe."

 _Yeah, watching the guys fight and bleed on the floor would make her mind freshen up._ she thought sarcastically. But she really didn't want to turn Sabé down as well. 

"Okay. Let's go there. But you have to dress me up real good. You understand?"

"That's on me, pal." Sab said, slightly amused. "I'll see you in your place at 9 o'clock. See you, sis. Bye!" and with that, the car was silent again, leaving Padmé with her drizzling thoughts. 

The rest of the ride was silent since Padmé didn't bother to turn on the radio. _She just wanted silence._

Dark gray clouds were still hovering above the city like some kind of a witch curse. Fortunately, the rain had stopped a few hours ago; however from the darkness Padmé was guessing that it would rain again tonight.She _hated_ going to bed while raindrops kept pounding the city. She hated the sound they were making as they hit the thick metal surrounding her home. _Was there anything she didn't hate?_

The roads were semi-crowded considering that people still had a job to do in their tiny box-like offices. Even the sight of them depressed Padmé. It reminded her of a prison. Nevertheless, she had so much respect for employees working there who were trying to rip their asses of just to bring some food to their families. That was something highly respectable in Amidala's eyes, therefore she was always kind to any worker she interacted with unlike her other colleagues who even had headlines about how rude he or she was to a random waitress at a random restaurant. 

As she kept her eyes trained on the road, she thought about Anakin and his heated gaze. It wasn't a shock to receive many gazes since she on an occasion did where ever she went. However, this _Anakin_ 's looks were something different. There was something deep inside his ocean eyes that just drew her to him. Right then, many questions filled up her mind. 

_Had he seen any of her movies before? Or maybe even heard of her?_ _There was a possibility that he was just trying to be respectful to her by pretending to know her. But if he wanted to be that respectful, why did he just snapped at her like that afterwards?_

It was all so tangled.

Her mind kept wandering back to his piercing eyes. His eyes were the type which would make you want to spend the rest of your life looking deeply into them, and let yourself go in his deep ocean blue eyes. The shade of them were so calm and fierce at the same time, it slightly overwhelmed Amidala. 

She took a deep breath and slowly switched lanes so that she could hand her car to Mr. Typho, her personal body guard, who was waiting outside for her arrival. After many struggles and honks, she finally managed to park her car in front of the apartment. Getting out of the car, she came in face to face with paparazzis. Right then she wished that she took the back road that lead to the apartment's east door, which was always clear of the camera people. 

She hated facing the paparazzi especially in a vulnerable state like she was in right then.

Cameras flashed in front of her eyes while she hurriedly got out of her car and handed the keys to Mr. Typho, muttering a 'thank you' to him. She pushed past the paparazzi that were asking her questions about the upcoming movie, the model dude that she was seen with a couple of days ago, and some other bunch of nonsense. A tight smile formed on her face as she said "Good afternoon." to the members and got into the main lobby of the apartment.

Outside was full of bright lights while Amidala patiently kept waiting for the elevator. In her life, she swore, she had never been more relieved to hear the elevator bing. Inside the elevator, it was safe. She sighed and took her sunglasses off, a bright red mark had formed on her nose bridge. It was always a chaos. Whenever she stepped out or stepped into the apartment, they were always there like some kind of a ticking bomb, throwing any type of nonsense at her. 

Now, she thought as she stepped into her penthouse, all she wanted to do was sleep until she was _forced_ to wake up again. 

* * *

"I'm heading to the ring now, Kenobi. Is there anything left for me to do before I head out?" Anakin called out from the counter, his leg bouncing nervously. The cafe had thankfully emptied down to only a couple of people. Today was very rough due to the storm and crazy because of his interaction with Padmé. _Ouch!_

Obi Wan peaked his head from the kitchen. "No, I got everything handled. Are you going straight to the... fight?" he asked, looking at his tall figure. He couldn't keep the grimace off of his face as he said the last part. 

"Yeah, I suppose." Skywalker's voice trailed. "I have to get my body started, you know." He needed to train a bit more just before his fights just to keep himself motivated and accustomed for the bloody part of his job. When he started hitting the punching bag, something in him lit up and just spread throughout his body in light speed. And after today's _certain incident_ , his hands just craved to punch something to get his anger out. 

He was still enraged from the fact that Padmé Amidala had made him vulnerable by just a look but still managed to withhold her stoic and goddess-like posture. Anakin had never felt this trapped and small in his entire life because of someone, especially a stranger. Deep down, he heard a calling... a calling for her. A minority in him just wanted him to find her and let himself go in her honey eyes. But the majority was so pissed at her for not reciprocating his vulnerability. He wanted her to shake the impassiveness off from herself and show her vulnerable side to him just like he wanted to show his to her. 

_And how the fuck have you managed to feel like this, Anakin? She is JUST a STRANGER. Nothing more. You will probably forget about her once you see another girl in between your sheets._

The thought of another girl in between his sheets didn't draw the exact attention he was expecting from himself: he was uncomfortable and disgusted by it. 

_Okay okay. You'll deal with this mess later. Now just focus on what's on your plate or else you'll become a mess yourself. Like if you aren't one already..._

He was a mess. 

"I'll see you tomorrow, Obi Wan." with that he got out of the cafe and walked to his Pontiac GTO, which his mom had bought for him on his eighteenth birthday with the money that was left from his grandparents. The car was just so precious to him, his baby, not because it was expensive but more because it made him feel safe since it made him think of his mother. Opening the front door and tossing his black gym bag to the passenger's seat, he got in to his car. The deep roar that came from the car's engine formed a satisfied smirk on his face as he drove off to the ring. 

The thought of his rival entered his mind like a lightening, striking a deep frown to his face. _Who was this Dooku?_ Everyone described him as a really strong man. _Was he really that capable of bringing Anakin down?_ He was aware that there were lots of people who were tangled up with this business way longer than he had been, however he had shown what he was capable of. And now he was considered as 'The Chosen One' because of his strength and ability to strategize his every move during a fight. 

Besides, he was in his forties. Anakin deemed dubious that the old guy would be able to respond to every one of his rapid movements. " _Don't underestimate your enemies, Anakin._ " Obi Wan's voice rung inside his head. He was right. It was better not to underestimate and prepare yourself for the worst. Then, you wouldn't be disappointed when the guy was too bulky and strong. If the fighting industry taught him something, it was never to underestimate or exaggerate anyone by their looks. Usually the too bulky ones were all steroids and the underestimated ones were the strongest, like him. He had a muscular body, yes, but since he wasn't too cumbersome, people who didn't know him always thought that he would get crushed under his rival's weight before the fight could even begin. He liked the confused and awed look on their face when he knocked the rival dude out. 

All these aside, one thing for sure was that it was going to be a hell of a fight. And it would be absolutely demeaning for him if he lost. 

Fighting industry was different from the rest of the other industries. There were the powerful fighters, the ones that got to their only from their daddy's money, the unsuccessful ones, and the ones who were backed up by some kind of mafia bosses. The last category was the most dangerous ones because they would always be trained to _kill_. 

However, even if the guy was from a gang, he had no chance but to fight him and win against him. It would get his reputation to a much higher level and he would be respected. If he was honest, that was the only thing he craved. He fought to gain a reputation and respect from a wide crowd. There already was a reputation over his head, but he wanted more as he grew stronger and more adapted to fighting. 

The ride was not long afterwards. Before he realized he was parking his car at the back street of the old building where the fights took place at. His heart beats had grew louder and were now beating in his ears. The sight of the building made his blood pump faster. He was excited and just wanted to get this over with. 

Skywalker picked up his bag and walked inside the building, greeting some of his acquaintances and thanking them when they wish him good luck in the match. The building was already filled with a bunch of people, patiently waiting to be let in to the ring. Everybody wanted to watch who will win the fight: the infamous Dooku or the newly emerging Anakin Skywalker. 

A bunch of girls stepped in front of Anakin as he walked to the gym at the other side of the building, preventing him from moving any further before giving them his autograph. They kept squeaking like babies, which was _very_ annoying for Anakin, as he signed all their papers one by one, and afterwards letting them take pictures with him. 

_So this is how Padmé must feel everyday with her fans..._ he couldn't help but think about the beautiful actress again. Her smile when she had realized that he was staring at her, the kindness and gentleness in her voice as she spoke to Obi Wan, and finally the way she glared at him before walking out of the cafe. It all passed in front of his eyes in under a minute. 

_Great now how are you planning on takin your mind off of her for good?_

Once her chestnut curly hair, honey eyes, and slim figure entered his mind, it was a total hardship for him to send the image to the back of his head, he didn't deny. 

He gave the girls a tight smile as he separated himself from them and continued his way to the gym. The whispers and giggles of the girls were still audible from behind him, making his eyes roll. Yes, he may have wanted respect, but _this_ was _not_ the respect he wanted: a bunch of girls surrounding him and begging for his autograph. If you were above a certain height, muscular, and had a handsome face above average, they just fell to your lap immediately. The respect he wanted was from the professionals. It was easy to win over some fans, but no one denied how inconvenient it was to win the professional's favor. 

If you win the small but main circle's interest, everything became much easier. You could even find a handful of sponsors over that circle, which was the thing he was looking forward to find in the upcoming days, of course, that was if he won this fight against Dooku. 

The gym was loaded with a bunch of fighter dudes training for their fight; some of them he knew and recognized, some just strangers to him. Rex, one of the fighters and his close friend, waved and called to him. Anakin had met Rex when he had first started fighting, about four years ago. Rex had thrown his arm around Skywalker's shoulder and had showed him around. Since then, they always had been working together and motivating each other before their fights. They were like an inseparable duo. 

Considering the other dudes, Rex was the friendliest one of all. He was not very strong, Anakin had to admit, however he was very clever. His intelligence was enough of a weapon to him rather than his body. All the cunning ways he moved his body in made his rival question his movements, which was actually the key to winning a fight: outsmarting your opponent with your mind. Rex had taught him that just as Anakin entered the fighting industry. He taught him all about the people fighting at the ring, about the professionals, and most importantly about how important it was to be _someone strong_ in front of their eyes. Since he had commenced fighting way before Anakin did, due to Rex being older, he knew all about the tricks and the shortcuts that would be useful to the younger fighter. 

"Hey, my main buddy, what's up? Are you prepared for the fight?" Rex gave him a grin as they did their signature hand shake, which consisted of both of them clinking their fists up and down before bumping at each other. It was short and classy, don't expect them to just come up with a whole ass hand shake that lasted like a minute or so. 

Rex's grin reflected upon Anakin's face. "I'm good, Rex, how about you? And I can say that I am prepared. I'm just here to get my blood pumping, _you know what I'm saying_?" They both laughed at the way Anakin imitated most of the fighters there. Every one of them _necessarily_ had to use the phrase 'you know what I'm saying' at least twice per convo. They, fighters, literally had another language for themselves in which they would just babble out some words with a cheeky bastard-ish smile stuck to their faces. Sometimes Anakin had to hold himself very hard not to just slap the grin off of their sly faces. Once you entered to the gym, it was like a 'no-intelligence zone'.

"I'm okay, man, just flowing with the vibe. I'll be watching you tonight 'cause I have, thankfully, no fights planned tonight... unless an unexpected one comes up." It didn't matter for Rex whether the fight was registered or not. It was an obvious fact that he _craved_ for a random fight to break in the crowd so that he can just join with a made up excuse and fight. He always said that those fights were the most fun ones, people just kicking or throwing punch aimlessly and randomly around, making themselves look stupid. On the other hand, they were totally unnecessary for Anakin as he considered them as a distraction that took the attention away from the ring so that a cheat could be done easily without anyone noticing. And that cheating scandal usually came from the mafia bosses, making them the most dangerous people to be fighting at the ring. 

"That's good." Anakin sighed before opening the question that was bugging his head all day. "Who the fuck is this Dooku guy? I heard lots of exaggerated and weird shit about him that made me wonder." 

Rex gave a grunt while showing the boxing bag, indicating that Anakin should start working out now. "That guy is a total freak coming out of a freak show. He may have a reputation, but he is as old as my grandma, bro."

Skywalker dropped off his gym bag and took off his shirt as he kept listening to the older guy. "And the last time he was in a fight was like a couple of minutes ago. So this fight with you will be like a come back to him... of course if he wins. But like I said, he probably wanders around with a walking stick." Just as he finished his sentence Anakin started hitting the bag as hard as he can. 

_Finally, the moment he had been waiting for since he had laid eyes on Padmé._

He needed to get his anger out... or maybe... he could use it for the fight. 

When Anakin was angry, more like outraged, he was a fierce fighter. He fought until the last cell in his body completely shut down, which was a couple of hours long duration. His punches made noses bleed more and his kicks made his rivals cling to the floor on their backs; it was futile to fight back to him while he was in that state of mind. 

Rex had seemed to realize his furious state, looking at him with a worried gaze. "What's up with you?" he couldn't help but ask as he held the punching bag for Anakin to punch. "Your mind seems to be at some place else, dude. Don't let it divert your attention from the fight."

"Nothing... is... wrong... Rex." Anakin managed to utter in between his punches, not wanting to elaborate on that topic. It would be stupid of him to just blurt out what had happened with Padmé today in the middle of the gym. He wanted to keep his thought of the young woman to himself; don't blame him, he wasn't that altruistic when it came to sharing his thoughts. 

Also, now talking about her would make him vividly imagine her slim figure and attractive facial features. 

Continuing to punch and kick the bag in front of him, Skywalker could feel adrenaline permeate through his veins. That was what he needed at the moment. He could really get accustomed to this feeling of being alive, the way gravity was now pulling him up as if he weighed nothing. It felt like flying, he had to admit, flying away from all the desperation, anger, worry, and _fear_. He secretly feared getting his mind and _heart_ stuck on Padmé while she just shielded herself from him. 

_No, no, no, no... It was only a transient phase. It had to be!_

He knew he was in denial about the whole situation, however he came to realize that denying made _something_ in his chest tighten painfully. The pain he had was like a detrimental hit to the chest area he had felt in some of his more arduous duels. _This was certainly more detrimental than the physical ones._

Rex seemed to drop their previous conversation as he directed Anakin to hit straighter into the bag. "Yes, just like that. Don't loose the pressure point. Hit the chest and now the face." The young fighter did as he was told, rapidly moved from the imaginary chest area to the face. 

All the surrounding sounds turned into faint whispers and everyone just disappeared with a blink of his eye. He was alone now with just the bag and his intermittent pants. The world was spinning around him as if he was at the center of a hurricane, everything just slipped and the colors merged into each other as he kept hitting, hitting, hitting, _hitting_... The moments turned into minutes, the minutes made quarters, and quarters made half an hours. In front of his eyes were nothing other than Padmé Amidala herself. He finally thought about their first encounter together. Until then, he was persistently trying to keep his mind off of the incident altogether. Now, he was reliving it. 

He recalled how starstruck he had been the first time he had laid eyes on her, in real life of course. The way she gracefully entered the cafe, how her eyes met his own heated gaze, her smile as she held a conversation with Obi Wan, and later with Anakin. Then, the last thing he remembered about her was the sullen eyes she had given him right before turning around and rushing out off the cafe just like she had entered it minutes before. 

He felt a strong remorse deep in him... his last memory of her was her offended eyes... and with that she had just disappeared, leaving Anakin there behind the counter watching her every move. He wished that he could have seen something different than her _pained_ eyes: maybe her sincere smile, or her melodic laugh, or even the way she scrutinized her nose when some dust just came right into her nostrils. Every subtle detail about her, except her bitter eyes, he wanted to remember... even maybe the bitter eyes since they were also a part of _her_. At that moment, behind the counter, he at least had her eyes and presence near him. Now it was all gone, stuck in the past. He was going to be honest, after today, they had no chance of meeting again, under any circumstances, and even if they did, he doubted that she would remember him from anywhere. 

"Anakin!" 

With that every color, every sound, everyone quickly came back to the picture. Anakin looked up at Rex with tired eyes, sweat embedded on his skin slowly gliding down, making him shudder with every fiber of his body. An imminent pain crept up from his hands and when he rose them to his face level he realized the mild bruises that had started to form in between his knuckles. 

_Great!_

"I think it was enough of training for you today. Now, if you want to kick that old dude's ass, you have to focus, Anakin. Don't let your thoughts betray you. Got it?" Rex said as he laid his hand on Anakin's shoulder, while the younger man was just panting in a bent position with his hands on his knees. Being so out of breath, Anakin couldn't bring himself to say anything and just nodded to him before taking off to clean himself up. "And Anakin." Skywalker looked over his shoulder to Rex. "Good luck out there."

 _The time flowed so quickly_ , he thought as he realized that he only had ten minutes to before coming nose to nose with Dooku. His excitement was lowering from its peak, to his favor. He hated being excited before a fight; it made him nervous and sometimes even made him confuse his moves. 

Surrounding the fighting ring were nearly hundreds of people: some holding placards for Dooku and the others screaming out for Anakin. It was a chaos out there. He felt like needed something to hold on to. 

Just then he met a pair of familiar honey brown eyes and the world shifted around him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I'm so sorry that it took me so long to update however I had my IB lessons and I'm preparing for the December SAT as well... So it's been a bit busy for me :) I hope you like this chapter and see you in the third one!!

**Author's Note:**

> Hey again!! If you liked the chapter or think that I should improve a point, please leave a comment down below!! See you later :)


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